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Old 03-31-2013, 11:12 PM
 
Location: Duluth, Minnesota, USA
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Do residents of Springfield, MO have a southern accent?
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Old 03-31-2013, 11:17 PM
 
Location: Branson, Missouri
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To someone from Minnesota, yes. Springfield is a bigger city, and also influenced to a degree by the local university. That being said....its sorta similar to Tulsa. Some people have southern drawls, and some don't. From Springfield on south the accent is much thicker.
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Old 03-31-2013, 11:28 PM
 
Location: Tippecanoe County, Indiana
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tvdxer View Post
Do residents of Springfield, MO have a southern accent?
As someone familiar with speech patterns of MO, I would call it a light southern accent, but it becomes more of a standard southern accent near Arkansas.
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Old 04-01-2013, 09:02 AM
 
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For those born and raised in Springfield the accent is fairly neutral - not southern, but definitely not upper mid-west either. However, the cadence is southern. We speak at least a third more slowly than a native of, say, Minn. Probably half as many words per minute as a New Yorker. Aside from absolute speed, the places in which we pause, and the way we pause as we talk is more southern.

As noted above, this changes quickly as you go south. Springfield has a lot of transplants from Ark. and Oklahoma and you can hear it quite often around town. I have frequently been astounded at just how sharp the difference in accent is between Springfield and Harrison, Ark.
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Old 04-01-2013, 12:58 PM
 
Location: Branson, Missouri
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Originally Posted by Arrby View Post
For those born and raised in Springfield the accent is fairly neutral - not southern, but definitely not upper mid-west either. However, the cadence is southern. We speak at least a third more slowly than a native of, say, Minn. Probably half as many words per minute as a New Yorker. Aside from absolute speed, the places in which we pause, and the way we pause as we talk is more southern.

As noted above, this changes quickly as you go south. Springfield has a lot of transplants from Ark. and Oklahoma and you can hear it quite often around town. I have frequently been astounded at just how sharp the difference in accent is between Springfield and Harrison, Ark.
Exactly. Harrison is 100% southern. Its interesting how an hour drive changes an accent quite a bit. I think the accent slowly transitions to pure southern somewhere in between the two cities. Where is the question!?!?
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Old 04-01-2013, 02:43 PM
 
Location: Jefferson City 4 days a week, St. Louis 3 days a week
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GraniteStater View Post
As someone familiar with speech patterns of MO, I would call it a light southern accent, but it becomes more of a standard southern accent near Arkansas.
Most of Missouri speaks with a South Midland dialect, not a light Southern accent...regardless, I would agree that accents in Springfield tend to lean more toward the southern side...I still would not call Springfield the south though. Linguistics maps place Springfield in the Southern dialect range. Where I'm at, in Dexter, this is the South.
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Old 04-01-2013, 06:54 PM
 
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Language wise Springfield has a southern tint. I can identify an Arkansas accent and recent asked about some with a St. Louis accent because they pronounced their vowels different. Older people from smaller towns will have a traditional southern accent while the younger generation has a lighter version.

Gets become gits, youins, bye is bahhh and laughably most folks will tell an outsider they're the one with an accent. "Woor ya from ageen?" Not making fun of the locals just typing with phonetics.
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Old 04-03-2013, 12:00 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tvdxer View Post
Do residents of Springfield, MO have a southern accent?
It depends on your reference point. I grew up in the deep South, so no.....I have a heavier accent than most people around here. If you are from the north or the West or East Coast, then yes, people will seem to have an accent here.

But, even in the south where I grew up, accents could change within a short distance.
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Old 04-04-2013, 08:06 AM
 
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I use to travel up to the North East and many commented on my southern accent.I was surprised while in Kansas City a woman knew exactly what part of the state I was from

brushrunner
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Old 04-05-2013, 04:07 PM
 
Location: Rolla, Phelps County, Ozarks, Missouri
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Originally Posted by Vols44 View Post
laughably most folks will tell an outsider they're the one with an accent. "Woor ya from ageen?"
This attitude is one of the many reasons I don't go out of my way to become friends with transplants.

Thanks to progress in communications and travel, as well as the influx of outsiders to our region, the accent is diminishing. Young people don't speak with as discernible an accent as we old-timers. My heavy, thick twang/drawl is the result of being around my maternal grandparents, true hillbillies in every way, daily during my formative years.

I work in retail in Pulaski County next door to my county. Due to the fort in Pulaski and the technological university here, we have a lot of transplants in both counties. When I hear someone with a non-Ozarkian accent (and the poster is ignorant if he/she believes only we Ozarkers have accents), I'll say, "You're not from around here, are you? Where is your home?" Usually, a nice conversation ensues.

I like my accent, and when transplants like Vols44 "laughably" mention it, I tend to unleash and wind up flaying them. Unless, of course, I'm at work; then, I smile and laugh along with them.
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